Pauline Bradshaw

Betty "Pauline" (Dunlap) Bradshaw, daughter of the late Cecil & Myrtle (Kelley) Dunlap, was born on May 27, 1930, in Cabool, Missouri. At an early age, she was saved and baptized and became a member of the First Free Will Baptist Church in Mountain Grove in June of 1948.

During her junior year in high school, her close friend, Juanita Bradshaw, introduced Pauline to her brother, Luther. She told the story that it was his red 1940 Ford Coupe with the rumble seat and large spotlights that caught her eye. However, Luther's charm and good looks quickly made her fall in love with him and he caught her heart.

After graduating from Norwood High School in May 1948, they were married on July 3, 1948, in Harrison, Arkansas, and moved to their farm on Highway C, south of Norwood. Three children were born to this union, Larry in 1949, Laurel in 1950, and Reta in 1951.

The family moved to Michigan in 1952, where Pauline first worked as a bank teller before finding her dream career teaching sewing lessons for Singer Sewing Machine Company in Ann Arbor. In 1960, they decided it was time to move back to their farm in Norwood. Once they moved home, they both went to work at Tobin Hamilton Shoe Factory in Mansfield and Pauline started a part-time home tax preparation business.

Pauline and her children attended Norwood Assembly of God Church and Luther joined the family in the 70's after being saved and baptized. Pauline became a Head Start Social Service Aide in Mountain Grove where she especially enjoyed working with the small children, their families, and her co-workers. She often ran into former students later in life and was so happy to visit and learn of their accomplishments. However, in 1977 she left that job to start a new career with the Missouri State Department of Revenue as a License Bureau Agent where she traveled to several License Bureaus in Wright County and surrounding counties.

In 1979, Tanya & Eric joined the family making Pauline and Luther parents of young children once again. Pauline continued working for the State of Missouri until 1981. She soon opened Granny's Place Antiques & Flea Market in one of the oldest houses in Norwood...the home where her mother had lived many years before passing.

Pauline had a friendly personality and always enjoyed meeting new people and visiting old friends. She loved to hunt for antiques and enjoyed discussing her latest finds with her sister, Martie, from Michigan. She kept Granny's Place open until she felt it was time to retire so she could focus on becoming a full-time homemaker and care-giver to her husband Luther.

One of her favorite pastimes was to work outside in her flowers and do yard work. She loved animals and her dogs and cats provided her the special comfort and friendship she needed after Luther passed away on January 9, 2014. Pauline was very proud of her family and her greatest joys came from playing with her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Due to her illness, the last few years were a struggle for her. However, despite her difficulties, she always had that smile that could light up a room. She continued cutting up with friends, family, and sometimes, even strangers. Pauline was a kind, generous, and loving soul that was loved by many and will be missed forever!

Besides her parents and husband, Pauline was preceded in death by one son, Larry Bradshaw, two brothers, Edgar and Ancil Dunlap, four sisters, Rachel Dunlap, Olive Kirn, Pansy Bradley, and Martha Carnahan, and one half-brother, Clifford Dunlap.

Pauline is survived by one son, Eric Norheim and wife, Louanna, of Norwood, three daughters, Laurel Hall and husband, Larry, of Theodosia, Reta Walker of Norwood, Tanya Tripp and husband, Doug, of Seymour, one daughter-in-law, Brenda Bradshaw-McGrotha of Georgia, fourteen grandchildren, twenty-seven great-grandchildren, eleven great-great-grandchildren, one sister-in-law, Ida “Harveline” Dunlap, and a host of other relatives and friends who will miss her dearly.